Island



(N0 Model.)

W- D- WESSON,

No. 263,268. Patented Aug 22, 1882.l

F'l EIE vVl-l-NEEEIESI g IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER D. WESSON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

HAN D-STAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 263,268, dated August 22, 1882.

Application filed May 23, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER D. WESSON, ot' the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have 'invented a new and useful Improvement in Hand-Stamps for Iostmarking; and I declare the following to be a specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure l is a side elevation of my invention. I1ig.2 is a perspective view of the obliteratingblock.

My invention is an improvement upon the invention by me made and secured by Letters Patent of the United States, granted to lne and issued January 18, 1881, and numbered 236,742; and it consists in the combination of devices. as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

rIhe parts of my invention are as follows: A handle, A, is provided with a fixed transverse bar, B. The postmarker O, wherein are contained the movable types to print the date and place of mailing, is mounted and rotates upon a screw, a, which passes through the bar B. y

A slit and spring-stud, D, is fastened to the side of the postmarker, as shown in Fig. l, and projects therefrom at a right angle in a direction parallel withthe central longitudinal line of the barB. By rotating the postmarker C this stud can be swung from its parallel position under said bar to occupy a position at an angle thereto.

The obliteratin g block or cube E has suitable devices cut or formed upon its plane faces, and a perforation, b, is made through it to receive the stud D, which supports it. It may be made of metal, cork, wood, or any suitable material.

To hold the parts in position while working, I have provided a flat spring, c, one end of which is conned between the inner end of the handle and the upper surface of the bar, and the freeend of which carries a pin, d, xed thereto, which passes through a hole in the bar down into a slot in the inner or upper end of the postmarker.

When it is desired to change the position of the block E the block may of course be pulled off of the stud D, as hitherto; or I may avail myself of the rotation of the parts, in which case I lift the pin d out of its slot in the postmarker C by slightly lifting the free end of the spring c, whereupon the postmarker is free to rotate, and I swing the stud D and block E out at a right angle to the bar, rotate the block upon the stud until the desired face is lowest, and swing it back to its former position, where the pin d is forced back into its slot by the spring and the parts are again locked.

I prefer a cubical rather than a cylindrical block, Vvbecause with the latter only the two ends are available for printing-surfaces, while with the former each of the sides is a plain surface, which may be cut with suitable letters or devices, and can be adjusted, as described, to bring either face in the same plane with the printing end of the postmarker. To utilize all the six faces of the cube for this purpose, it is necessary to make two perforations, b, through the block at right angles to each other.

Any other block than a cube, having any number of opposite parallel faces, used as described, would be within my invention, the essential idea being that the obliterator should have two opposite and parallel sides, the outer of which shall imprint a device and the inner of which shall furnish a bearing solidlyin contact with the bar.

Until my inventing, hand stamps were adapted to print only one certain mark or device; but with myimproved stamp furnished with a block having several printing-surfaces each bearingits peculiarlettering or markIcan make one stamp do all the work of printing the several designs which are cut ou the block by simply adjusting the faces ofthe block to the required position, and can thus imprint with a single instrument all the various information relative to the cancellation of the postage-stamp, the time and direction of the movement of the mails, the name of the mail agent or clerk, and such other matters as the postal regulations may call for.

I claim as a useful and novel invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentrlhe combination of the handle A, bar B, rotating postmarker C, stud D, perforated and adjustable obliterating-block E, screw a, and spring-pin al, all fitted and operating substantially as and for the purpose specified.

WALTER D. WESSON.

Witnesses:

WARREN R. PEEoE, WILLIAM B.` VAN AMEINGE.

IOO 

